355. Christian Unity Week… Not Again???

Posted by Eva Ulian January 22, 2013

355. Christian Unity Week… Not Again???

Confirmation at the Cathedral Vittorio Veneto Italy.

This week is Christian Unity, and last week I tried to sum up what supposedly unites Christians, not that anything has come of it in all these years, hence this week I will propose what divides Christians, maybe that will have a better effect on everyone.

Confirmation at the Cathedral Vittorio Veneto Italy.

As I wrote in my previous post, an ecclesiastic, from a denomination half a step away from Roman Catholicism said that everyone who has been baptized with the Trinitarian formula was a Catholic- whether he/she knew, liked it or not… and that is about all that unites Protestants to Roman Catholics, after which all go their own sweet way. Why? Mainly due to historical reasons, because they have been brought up that way or simply because they can’t stand the Catholic Church, the Apostolic one, which is also called Roman.

Confirmation Candidates at the Cathedral Vittorio Veneto Italy.

Confirmation at the Cathedral Vittorio Veneto Italy.

Confirmation at the Cathedral Vittorio Veneto Italy
The Bishop with two of our local priests.

Talking about “Apostolic” when referred to a Church means a group of people, in effect over a billion of them called Roman Catholics and about 350 million called Orthodox, who fall within the Apostolic Succession whose bishops and priests have been consecrated through a line of bishops who were consecrated by the Apostles who in turn were consecrated by Jesus. Those other Churches who have broken away from that direct line of consecration do not fall within the Apostolic Succession and to put it crudely have not any spiritual authority from Christ at all… their “consecration” of priests, nuns, Confirmations, are null as if they were actors acting out a part. Hence their Bishops are no more bishops than Richard Chamberlain was in “Thorn Birds.” And for me to call any of these prelates Father, Bishop, Rev. Mother etc would simply be taking the Holy Ghost for a ride.

Confirmation at the Cathedral Vittorio Veneto Italy
One of our local priests reads the Gospel.

Perhaps I’m not the best person to write upon this thorny subject, but it seems I’m the only one willing to stick my neck out and do so- I certainly would leave the matter well alone if someone else were prepared to do it, but this seems not to be the case and I think the Holy Spirit needs some support on this, yes because the Holy Spirit cannot be conjured up as the Wizard of Oz would have done in one of his magic tricks and as some Churches believe they can do so just by praying to IT.

The Confirmation Candidates respond
to the Bishop

In fact this is the vision of some Non-Catholic prelates:

“My vision is of a church universal united in prayer and good works – unified by selfless service and love, unified by purpose and prayer, unified by what we share in our common life with grace and the peace.” Identity supplied

The Bishop calls upon the Holy Spirit

Is there anything wrong with this vision? Of course there is- there is no mention that the Holy Spirit should be physically involved, it’s all man-made constructed and managed- so how can it possibly survive? If God thought man could save himself all by himself, he would not have incarnated Himself in the human form of Jesus nor would Jesus have consecrated his Apostles under the leadership, not of Tom, Dick or Harry, but of Peter, upon whom God imparted Himself as the Holy Spirit to PASS on to others… us included. The Holy Spirit comes to us through the anointing and the laying on of hands from person to person within the Apostolic Succession- anything outside that is pure fantasy.

So when our Bishop accepted willingly our priests’ request to have our youth Confirmed at the Cathedral last Sunday we were overjoyed because, how better can we make these young people feel the authenticity of the Holy Spirit descending upon them if not by receiving it at the seat from where this Apostolic Succession takes place, the Cathedral- the Cathedra of our Bishop who bears the sign of the Apostolic Succession within him?

Candidates being confirmed

This is not a matter of politics, power or pride, this is a question of being authentically Confirmed by the Holy Spirit or merely play acting as it would otherwise be if celebrated outside the Apostolic Succession. And that is why I have written this post, not to be polemic, but because our youths have the right to know what is happening to them and they are not ones to accept people telling them porkies, not in this day and age of facebook, twitter and internet- actually my Indian friends, don’t like being told porkies either.

Consecration of the Eucharist

Finally, one word to the land that gave me my intelligence, gifts, upbringing and knowledge, England-

Consecration of the Wine

Possibly, the establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is one way that paves the way to Christian Unity because they reflect those Anglicans who desire to enter within the Apostolic Succession once more. And that would not be a bad idea at all.